Modern computing devices often attempt to achieve a balance between portability and functionality. A tension can exist between having a display that provides for a rich display of information on a single surface, which suggests a relatively large form factor of the device to accommodate a relatively large display, and a device that is small enough to be easily carried and accessed by a user, which suggests a relatively small form factor of the device.
A potential solution to address this dilemma is to use a foldable flexible display in the computing device, so that in the display's folded configuration, the computing device has a relatively small form factor, and in the display's unfolded configuration, the computing device can have a relatively large display. To keep the form factor of the computing device small and slim, it is desirable to have relatively thin displays. However, folding a relatively thin display can result in small radius bends at the fold in the display, which may be detrimental to sensitive components of the display, for example, thin film transistors (TFTs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), thin-film encapsulation (TFE) and the like. In addition, thin displays can be relatively fragile and in need of protection against breakage.
Accordingly, relatively thin, foldable displays that nevertheless can be bent in a small radius, but not beyond a minimum radius, and that are relatively study, are desirable for use in computing devices.